Choosing Power BI: Part 5. Data Management

(NOTE: The options for choosing Power BI platforms were substantially changed with the introduction of Fabric in early 2024. Please view the updated “Choosing Power BI in a Fabric Centric World: A Guide for New and Existing Customers” that was released in July 2024.)

• Power BI back-end platforms provide data management capabilities that can replace traditional data mart and SQL Server Analysis Services deployments.
• Premium platforms support complex data architectures and provide security features most enterprises require.
• Data size, refresh, and resource limitations require architecting Power BI deployments to ensure data is available and costs are controlled.

Power BI data management has expanded greatly over the years and now provides an integrated business intelligence (BI) platform for enterprises that prefer centralized data management for reporting and analysis. The back-end platforms vary in their ability to replace traditional data components, such as data marts, SQL Server Analysis Services, and integration tools. It is important to review the capabilities of each back-end platform, including data format, size, and data refresh limitations, and spend time to create a new data architecture to get the most from Power BI.